When Will It Snow?

My girls jumped out of bed early this morning. By early, I mean really early. Early enough that Emmy thought it was still nighttime. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Daddy!” she called out to Ed as he left for work.

“No, you’ll see him tonight,” I corrected her.

“But it’s still nighttime! It’s not tomorrow yet!” she corrected me.

Well.

As they ran to the window to wave goodbye to Ed, they said, “Did it snow yet?”

Our winter this year has been strangely devoid of that fluffy white plaything. The girls are eager to use their just-the-right-size red snow shovels. They want to put on their stiff pink snow pants, purchased back in October when I was anticipating winter. They want to be pulled around the yard in their bright green sled. They want to plop themselves down on a thick bed of snow and wave their arms and legs to make snow angels.

The one time this winter that they were able to get outside and play in the snow was one short day in December, when we barely had an inch of snow. And that snow didn’t last long. It melted the next day.

I’m trying not to complain. After all, last winter we were heartily sick of the white stuff. We had snow on the ground all winter long. In February, we had more snow than I have seen since my childhood in Central Illinois. As much as I love snow, last winter was overdoing it a bit much. But boy, we did have fun!

This whole week we have been playing outside and reveling in the warm, 50 degree weather, knowing winter will soon come to Chicago. In fact, it’s supposed to come today. The temperatures are supposed to drop drastically, and the weatherman tells us to expect 4-6 inches of snow. Emmy tells me she has a new boy in her class, who used to live in warm place and has never seen snow. She is excited for him to see snow for the first time!

So come on snow, snow!

We’re ready.

Simple BPM

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More Blizzard Pictures (for my sister in California)

…Puddle hadn’t seen a single snowflake yet. Just let it snow, he wistfully pleaded to the sky. There had to be snow!
~from Toot & Puddle: Let It Snow, by Holly Hobbie

 Before the storm really got started

Just as the storm was beginning, I took this picture of our patio. When I looked at the weather radar online, a huge, blue mass with a swirly wind circle was heading our way. And did we ever get snow!

One winter morning Peter woke up and looked out the window. Snow had fallen during the night. It covered everything as far as he could see.
~from The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats

Our patio after the storm

Our driveway had a huge four foot tall drift crossing it. Lily decided to build a tunnel. “It’s warmer inside!” she discovered. In order to be able to get our cars out of our garage, Ed had a daunting task ahead of him.

It took Ed all morning — about five hours — to shovel that driveway. I helped him a little but mostly I played with Lily and Emmy and brought Ed water and food. His mustache and beard were frosty and his brown hat turned white, but he was loving every minute of it. Until he came inside and realized how sore he was, that is.

Snow is lots of fun,
All right!
It gives you
A big appetite.
~from Snow, by Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman

Emmy, standing by a drift next to our neighbor’s fence.

Waves of snow in front of our neighbor’s house.

Now that the snow is over, it’s cold.

But the front door was open and his father’s footprints went out into the snow–
and it was 50 below zero that night.
~from 50 Below Zero, by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko

Not 50 below zero cold, but rather 10 degrees cold. Not as cold as the weatherman predicted, but cold enough to make us stay inside during our second snow day. We’re back to school tomorrow…